


Growing closer

by Hemera7437



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Confessions, Crowley's Plants (Good Omens), Drunken Ramblings, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Kissing, M/M, More Fluff, questionable mentions of platypi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 00:30:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20985836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hemera7437/pseuds/Hemera7437
Summary: Crowley takes plant care very seriously.He's regularly shouting himself hoarse to get them in line, looks up creative insults on gardening wikis, and demonstratively eats salad in front of his (favourite, but don't go around telling it) snake plant.Aziraphale, however, has a vastly different approach...





	Growing closer

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to be a 500-word distraction to get the flow for my Good Omens Big Bang fic back, but then it escalated.  
Enjoy!
> 
> Thank you so much to [Lur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lurlur/pseuds/Lurlur) for challenging me to write this fic, my amazing beta [Pearl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl09) and [Wy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyvernQuill) for being the best story coach out there. These three are also responsible for the Platypi.

It took Crowley a good while to notice it.

After the world almost ended and he and Aziraphale survived their respective attempted executions, Aziraphale had frequented Crowley’s flat more and more.

Crowley had not complained, despite the fact that it was strange for Aziraphale to suddenly come by so often when they had only met in the bookshop before. Aziraphale hadn’t even seen his flat in Mayfair before Armageddidn't.

He had simply smiled whenever Aziraphale stood before his door with a bottle of wine in his hands and let him in.

In fact, Crowley was glad that he didn’t have to see the bookshop most of the time. He just couldn’t shake the image of it in flames out of his head. He knew it was unreasonable, but he was not about to say anything when his angel showed up on his doorstep out of his own free will.

They made themselves comfortable - Crowley on his throne, Aziraphale on the tartan couch he had manifested the first time he stepped foot into Crowley’s flat – and passed the bottle around like they always did.

On the evening when Crowley finally noticed just exactly _ why _ Aziraphale frequented the flat nowadays, they had ordered some Japanese food and lounged in their respective favorite spots. Aziraphale had ordered a huge plate full of variations of sushi - it had cost Crowley 35 pounds and Aziraphale hadn’t even finished eating the whole plate because he got distracted, but it was worth it to hear Aziraphale’s happy little sounds while he was enjoying his meal. Crowley had ordered their simplest noodle box and was happily watching Aziraphale eat.

“My point is… Platypus. That’s my point! Platypuses…? Platypi…? Platypodes…? Not important, anyways, what was the plan behind those?” Crowley said into the room without apropos.

“Hmmmm… Mammals.”

“Yes! Exactly, mammals, but with a beak! And they lay eggs but then… then they… they… lac- lact- breastfeed. And not even that I think! They just sweat out milk from pores! That’s not normal! And the… the poison spike!”

“Poison spike?”

“Yea, they have a poison spike, but only at their, their back leg and only the males! So what’s up with that?”

“Ineffable.”

“Yes, that’s what you always say, but, but the One Above, they must have had some sort of plan when making Platypussssssssssses? No? What happened then? Was it an accident? Did someone fall into the building box?”

“I- I don’t know. I wasn’t present when the platy- that animal was made. Was only a Principalitee, not important, only for guarding the Gate. Don’t know of any plans, but She must have… had one, a plan, Platy- these are too strange to be anything but planned. Isn’t it?”

“But- But…”

“Oh, my dear boy, I am not sober enough to answer your questions. Maybe, maybe you could make me a nice hot cuppa cocoa?”

“Yes, yesssss, sure, angel, right away,” Crowley slurred, his sibilants slipping out. He stood up and went to his almost pristine kitchen for Aziraphale.

Then he remembered he did not currently have cocoa at home and his angel did so hate it when they miracled foodstuff. ‘It just doesn’t taste the same’, he always said.

So Crowley went back to the living room to enquire further.

“Angel, I…“

But Aziraphale was not where Crowley had left him. Instead, Crowley found almost full bottles and a glass full of wine, as if no one had ever touched them.

“Angel?”

Crowley went around his throne to look for the other when he heard something. He immediately sobered up. Slowly, carefully, he crept silently towards the sound.

“Oh, dearie me, you get more gorgeous by the day!”

Crowley silently raised an eyebrow.

“Look at you all, you must be the most luxurious plants in all of London! Such lush leaves! And the colors! My, you are simply breathtaking!”

Aziraphale was talking to Crowley’s plants. But why would he talk to them? And why so… so _ nicely _? But Aziraphale wasn’t done yet and Crowley found he wasn’t able to move closer to him.

“He must tend to all of you so very well! You know, he really cares about you. Even if he would never admit it. But he did a wonderful job; it is marvelous to look at you!”

Now Crowley was glad he was not in the room with him because he could feel his face burning up from something that was definitely _ not _ a blush. He was also glad to have his sunglasses on to hide his eyes, even though Aziraphale couldn’t even see them at the moment.

Crowley finally found himself able to move again and he stepped closer so that he was able to peer through the door.

Aziraphale was standing in the middle of the plant room. In his hands, he was holding Crowley’s plant mister, almost… reverently. He went around the room, spritzing the leaves a bit; then he put the mister down to the side and walked through the plants, carefully stroking over each individual plant’s leaves, as if he was petting them.

“I am sorry I am so late today,” Aziraphale continued. “You see, I was talking to my dear boy about Platypuses? Platypi? Platypodes? He always asks the most delightful questions. He’s so full of curiosity; it is marvelous. I love spending time with him knowing that now, because the world did not end, we still have eternity together.”

Aziraphale paused in his speech and Crowley didn’t dare breathe. He felt his heart beat furiously in his chest, almost as if it wanted to jump out.

“You know, I care about him too, very deeply. And I know him; you must forgive him for his actions. I know he loves to frighten you, but he does it because he cares; he just doesn’t know how to show it properly. Like the time when he pushed me against a wall for calling him nice! He really means well, and you can clearly see that! You must be the only plants in the whole world to rival the beauty of Eden. You know, the very first garden.”

Aziraphale came to a halt next to a small pot that contained a snake plant. It was small and frail and prone to brown spots, but Crowley had always managed to scare it enough for it to avoid being ‘shredded’. And Crowley had hidden it behind much larger plants – it reminded him far too much of himself, well, as much as a plant that shared a name with his other form could be reminiscent of him-, but of course, Aziraphale had found it immediately.

Aziraphale took the small pot into both of his hands and stroked across its leaves.

“He is though. Nice, I mean,” Aziraphale told the snake plant. “Even if he pushes me to walls for saying that. I will repeat it so often until he too believes me. He hides it, but he is hurting so much because of the Fall. He didn’t deserve to fall. He is a better angel than anyone else up there, or down here, on earth.

“He cares so much, for all of you plants, for all the children, for all of humanity… For me. And I only pushed him away, even when he came to me… at his most… vulnerable. I pushed him away and yet he still came back, still always waits for me, even when I’m going far too slow for him. Even though I love him… so much. I can’t tell him, can’t admit it, can’t match his pace.”

“_ Angel, _” breathed Crowley before he could stop himself.

Aziraphale whirled around, eyes wide, and dropped the pot he was holding.

Crowley, quick as a snake, strode across the room and caught it before it shattered to the ground. He gently placed it back into Aziraphale’s hands.

He was so close he could hear Aziraphale’s breathing, but neither of them pulled away. Aziraphale just stared at Crowley, cerulean eyes impossibly wide.

“How,” Aziraphale swallowed and looked down onto the snake plant. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Almost since the beginning.”

“Oh.”

“_ Angel. _”

Aziraphale looked up again.

“You… you’ve heard it, all of it, haven’t you?”

“I- I have. I’m sorr-“

Aziraphale put a finger over Crowley’s lips, silencing him. Then, slowly, he pulled off Crowley’s sunglasses.

He folded them and put them down next to the plant mister. Then he placed the snake plant next to them, all lined up in a neat little row. Three symbols of Crowley’s entire self laid bare before his angel.

“Don’t apologize, please.”

“I shouldn’t have eavesdropped. I-“

Aziraphale turned back to him. And finally, cerulean met amber without a layer between them.

Aziraphale’s eyes softened and he reached up with an incredibly soft hand and wiped away the wet trail on Crowley’s cheek. Crowley hadn’t even realized he’d been crying.

“I wouldn’t have said it out loud if I hadn’t… deep down… wanted you to overhear it. I… I might have used the plants, your plants, to… practice it. So that I could be ready for… this.”

Crowley gasped softly.

“I’m sorry, my dear. I should have said it outright.”

“No, angel, no, don’t apologize. You are under no oblig-“

The finger returned to Crowley’s lips.

“I am not under any obligations. But I want to say it. And I have to say it now before I lose my courage.”

Crowley’s eyes widened, but Aziraphale’s held his gaze.

“Crowley, my dear, dear Crowley, I… want to match your pace. I think- I think I finally caught up to you. I… love you. And not just like I love all things, I love you more than anything. Maybe even more than the Almighty herself.”

Crowley gasped.

“Angel, angel, that’s _ blasphemy _.”

“It is the truth.”

By now tears were freely streaking across Crowley’s face.

“Oh, angel… _ Aziraphale. _”

“Crowley.”

And then their lips finally met. Amber eyes slid shut and Crowley’s hands found their way around his angel, tightening their hold until there was not a breath between them.

Aziraphale buried his hands in Crowley’s locks, gripping tight and pulling Crowley’s head even closer. Their teeth bumped together, and the kiss tasted salty from the tears between them. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.

Only them.

The kiss was the most amazing thing that ever happened to Crowley.

Finally, reluctantly, they parted. Both were breathing heavily, even though neither of them technically had to breathe.

Then Aziraphale broke out into the most blinding smile and Crowley could do nothing more than close his eyes and let his forehead rest against Aziraphale’s. Together, they sank down onto their knees, still completely tangled in each other’s arms.

Finally, completely and utterly on their own side.

Finally, their pace was matched.

Everything was perfect.

When Crowley opened his eyes again, he was met with breathtaking cerulean watching him intently.

“I love you,” Crowley breathed and reveled in the sight of Aziraphale’s eyes widening.

How long had he waited to say these words?

6000 years.

So he repeated them, like a prayer, over and over and over again.

And Aziraphale rewarded him with a kiss each time.

He didn’t know how long they spent like that, but it was dark outside when he finally noticed anything other than the angel in his arms. Crowley reluctantly pulled his eyes away from Aziraphale and looked up to his plants, until his gaze landed on the little snake plant.

From down on the floor it didn’t look so small and frail.

Crowley smiled.

Then he chuckled.

Then he laughed.

Aziraphale looked at him questioningly.

“I still have to push you to the wall for telling my plants I’m nice. You’ve been doing this every time you came over, haven’t you? Is that the reason you met me here so often? For my plants? You undo all my intimidation tactics, angel! You spoil them too much!”

Aziraphale joined into his laughter and it sounded like a thousand little bells chiming.

The most beautiful sound from the most beautiful angel.

His angel.

“Maybe I have been coming here so often to be nice to your plants. And maybe you should push me against a wall again,” grinned Aziraphale. “Last time you did that, it didn’t do much to prove your point. Maybe you should try again. I can repeat it: You really are a nice person.”

“Shut up,” teased Crowley, and he pushed Aziraphale gently into the wall surrounded by his plants.

Then he kissed him again.

When they parted, Aziraphale grinned even broader.

“I still need more convincing, you should try it again.”

Crowley smirked and complied.

Just enough of a bastard indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
I hope you enjoyed it, please leave kudos or a comment! <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Growing Closer](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23660995) by [semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/semperfiona/pseuds/semperfiona_podfic)


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